Tokyo X
by Creativemasta
Summary: Meet Emiya shirou your normal average college student in dire shortage of money. A story of love and hurt mostly physical if not painful. What awaits Shirou in Tokyo?
1. cherry blossom reunion

My first ever love comedy/action fic lol. The prologue bit will be added up time to time, for now we're back to the future with Shirou and his misadventures in Tokyo. Hope you like!

(Some contents inspired by B.E.N.T.O)

**[FF] Tokyo**

_**Prologue (1/3): The second button**_

Dawn, people often associate it with the beginning of things. Through dawn the day begins and through dawn the dark and cold of the night is replaced with a breath of fresh air that signals the start of a new day. But to him this morning sun felt nothing like it was meant to be.

The warm soothing touch of the shallow string of light descended upon his restless eyes as the thin curtains began illuminating with mild sinewy glow that signaled the beginning of the day.

To him however the light that often gave him the strength to last the day only managed to leave a lasting bitter sensation in his mind. Dawn is a beginning of everything. Yes, but today if that shallow breadth of light passing through those thin ruffle curtains had any connection to what they call the beginning of anything, then all matters considered today had to be the beginning of the end.

Shirou rubbed his groggy eyes and pushed the curtains to the side and opened the windows. The cold chilly winter breeze sent shivers down his chest but the subtle heat of the rising sun did just enough to justify the hefty price tag that came along with the woolen sweater he was wearing in his sleep. Outside, his garden which on normal occasion would've been full with bushes and plants was painted white with all the snow that had been building up on it for the last 5 days.

Winter was at its coldest and the entire city had undergone a complete white transformation. A quiet and dull city as it was, the piling snow virtually cut off any sign of pedestrians around and everyone was staying in their house locking themselves up, waiting for the snow to dry. Today was a big day for him however and whatever reason he might had it never would have been enough reason for him to skip school.

Shaking himself off from his thoughts Shirou removed himself from the window frame and closed the window. He folded the blanket on his bed and opened the door outside. The bland corridor gave out a creaking sound as he took his steps to the living room, he felt the wooden floor sinking slightly along with each foot step he took but he didn't mind. Once today's gone he wouldn't be here anymore to savor the days he'd spent in this house he inherited from his stepfather. Even the creaking floor, he knew he'd eventually come to miss them. The little things matter the most when you aren't around to experience them anymore, so he took his time and slowly walked his way down to the living room.

"Oh, Shirou you're up earlier than usual today."

Shirou turned his head to the corridor leading to the right. Not two meters from him was saber in her blue fluffy pajamas her blond hair was still wet and she had her white towel around her neck which she used to wash her wet hair as they were conversing. She was tilting her head sideways, rubbing her wet hairwith the towel, her emerald eyes fixing its gaze at Shirou. It was six in the morning and there was nobody else in the mansion but them.

A lot has happened and for days an air of awkwardness had taken toll over them. It's been four days ever since he had that that big argment he had with both Rin and saber and surely she wouldn't have found it in her heart to truly forgive him. and it would've taken a great load of courage for her to to break the Ice.

Ever since she became a permanent part of the family she had always been the most diligent and earliest bird of the bunch. Waking up at this hour was a normalcy for her. Not as much for shirou though, no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to beat Saber in this department it never ceased to amaze him how she always managed to wake up before he did. Perhaps their past connection as master and a servant had something to do with it but he was never motivated enough to ask a straight question to Saber so he made it his agenda to just accept the way things are. Today was a big day and he didn't feel like asking that question right now.

Shirou shrugged and made a smile. Saber stopped drying her hair to that gesture and put it around her neck before sighing. She scratched her untied hair which still had a bit of moisture in it and asked

"Shirou, have you ever wondered why you've never managed to wake up before I did?"

Shirou scratched his head and made a simple nod. Yet her face didn't seem to tell the same story. Saber folded her arms against her chest. Her face wore an expression that indicated annoyance. A brief moment of silence went by before she sighed and gave up anything she had in mind.

"You're not going to change your mind aren't you?"

"I…"  
Just before Shirou had the chance to say it Saber pulled her right hand out to him and let it out.

"...Congratulations on your graduation Shirou"  
Bitter smile surfaced on her lips, yet there was nothing Shirou could do but accept her handshake. Today is his graduation day and today he's moving out to Tokyo.

_**[FF] Tokyo X**_

_Set 4 years after FSN_

**Chapter 1: Bento Wars/pre-Kotomi/ cherry blossom reunion.**

Two thousand Yen. Yes, that was the total amount he had to pay for this month's share of phone bills. The monthly paycheck for his part time job was still weeks away and his bank account were almost depleted of any retractable funds, and he wasn't very happy about it…. well, he just had enough in it to at least buy him just enough Natto cans that could last until his payday (which is going to be postponed by another week or so anyways) and besides He had already began replacing his daily diets with a good amount of healthy fermented Natto concoctions a long time ago which made all these Natto delusions seem moot.

"O…kay, that's not good…that's not good at all"

Meet Emiya shirou your normal average college student in dire shortage of money. Damn you if you think its funny slaves of capitalism, tears to all the poor souls that can properly empathize with our favorite hero of justice and just recently, poverty. Whatever feelings you place on this normal average college student you can always be sure of this one thing; he was in deep shit.

"Hah, guess I'll just have to get by without my cell..."

Shirou leaned his back on the bed of this small studio apartment and briefly skimmed to his cell's contact lists before he started jotting down the names of his acquaintances that meant anything more to him than his annoying Ex Roommate, Kouta. Ashirogi, Kotomi, Miki, Taiga, issei, Shinji and…

"Eh…"

Talking to self is often associated with various mental disorders that automatically makes you the best candidate for the worst ever roommate. It comes in various shapes and sizes, big fat and short skinny, often associated with the annoying Otaku subculture (surprisingly accurate for random stereotypical ideas that sprout out of nowhere)

ugly and charming, the former which takes precedence over the requirements mentioned above, and the latter which automatically transforms them into those lucky pedophiles you see on Korean dramas which apparently has diplomatic immunity as their default skills. Charming people are surely not from this earth; at least they don't exist around us and thus grants them automatic protection from law eh?

That aside the reason Shirou went Eh at his cell was because of the existence of the names had nothing to do with any mental disorder. Rather, He was simply caught off guard by the names he saw on his contact list. He thought he'd got them off his minds but seeing their phone numbers again managed to induce that sense of Nostalgia that had been laying dormant inside him.

"Rin, Sakura, Saber…"

Shirou briefly hesitated but in the end he decided to jot their names down in his Notes. He knew it wouldn't be all that useful. Granted, Rin and saber are staying in the clock tower and Sakura is a student in Hokkaido University which is a good distance further away than the distance between Japanand the nearest country to it, Korea. and that also meant that they were virtually cut off from one another. They managed to contact each other briefly after admission however but that was it.

For some reason, it was Sakura that stopped calling him first and that fact came as a huge shock to Shirou. Sakura was always the one to make the first calls and it wouldn't have occured to him that their connection would die out just like that.

But When half a year passes without a single call from her and when your calls don't reach her anymore you eventually understand that life takes everyone away from you, he just had to curse himself for his apparent lack of sensitivity.

Aside from Sakura, he also lost Rin immediately after the fight that had to do with his decision to accept his admission to college. Unlike Rin though he'd managed to come into terms with Saber but she was still Rin's familliar and as circumstances allowed they only managed to come in contact through handwritten mails and even then it was an extreme rarity too. The last letter he go from saber had something to do with Rin spending almost all of her remaining money into buying a good number of stocks from Ford motor's and that she was getting richer by the day.

Shirou turned on his TV and turned his channel to number 42. CNBC and….err, the situation still looked bleak but what the heck he thought; it's Rin she's definitely going to figure something out. The letter is around 3 months old anyways there was no reason not to think that she'd have gotten over the global economic crisis

"I hope"

Shaking his mind away from that uneasiness, Shirou put his blackberry on the table beside him and raised himself up from his bed. He tidied his blanket and turned off his TV he changed his blue striped trunks to Dark blue levy jeans and his cheap dirty white tank top to white polo stripes and headed outside to his usual Marketplace in the outer Shibuya ward where they sell those good old expired Nattos at one tenth the usual price tag.

000

Shirou took his steps down the stairs of this 3 story studio apartment building and said hello to Miss Yukiko, the overseer of this apartment building, who was busy sweeping the floor off with her worn off broomstick.

"What's the matter Shirou dear, you look so depressed."

Miss Yukiko put her broomstick beside the staircase leading to the upper floor and gently struck her strained shoulders with her hand as she gave that worrying look to Shirou. Shirou always liked the empathic nature of this old woman, and she had always been a reliable mental support for him ever since his stay in this place.

Often when you're living away from the comfort of your familly the thing you often miss the most is parental love. Up until his high school years it was Taiga that provoded him with that kind of support. Of course no person in the world could ever provide him with the kind of support Taiga gave him in the past and it'd be arrogant of him to think otherwise. But at the least, Yukiko san has been the closest thing he had to Taiga and he knew he would always be indebted to this old woman for that (beside the rents he has to pay of course let's just say that's out of the equation for now)

Shirou smiled back at Yukiko san and decided to talk with her a bit before he left.

"Well, my paycheck's several weeks off and I've failed to pay my cell phone bills on time. So I was just planning to get myself ready for the weeks to come."

"Nattos again? well, you can always visit my room and have some of my Miso soups if you're desperate."

Shirou crossed his arms before his chest and decided to ponder on things for a while before he decided to decline her offer. After all it was Yukiko san's love filled Miso soups that lead him to this wonderful world of cheap fermented beans. Her courtesy was gratifying and all but even excessive love could become poisonous at some point.

"Nah, I'll pass miss Yukiko san. Let me help you with that."

"Oh but, you'll be late for the sale!"

"Well, I'll just settle with your miso soup if that happens."

Shirou snatched the broom in Yukiko san's hand and began clearing the leaves off the lawn. All the more reason to finish this chore early.

thirty minutes later he was done with and the lawn was once again clean, much to Yukiko san's delight. She offered a small sum for his help but Shirou kindly declined her offer and continued on with his journey.

000

_**Outer Shibuya ward somewhere around yoyogikoen**_

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Shirou felt his feet shaking at the unbelievable site His favorite mart has just gone out of business and his daily Natto supplement was now officially gone. Does he have to resort to Yukiko san's love filled Miso soup instead of healthy fermented Nattos? Certainly not.

So Shirou scoured around for things to buy. There were plenty of marts around but none of them piqued his interest. For one thing none of them sold anything outdated which also meant that it wasn't anywhere near what his wallet could keep up. For another, part timers were never stupid enough to readily hand over their outdated stocks to some strange neighbor, lest they run into serious risk of litigation. Perhaps it was just a matter of time for his favorite store to go out of business.

Blatantly giving out outdated canned foods count as violation to provincial law and earning anything from these unhealthy delicacies certainly counts as a serious crime. Not to mention the repercussions of mass diarrhea could cause on a smalltime market.

"Man..."

Shirou reminded himself of the times he had to visit the toilet during classes and the times he had to spend there virtually skipping all the important lectures that actually meant something to him. Then he thought, Perhaps it was for the good of the world.

Every choice you make, you make them counting all the possible sacrifices you have to make. Economy defines them as opportunity costs; or so he heard in one of his lectures. And it certainly proved its merit right here. The thought gave him a mild depression, seeing that his Ideal was one that he can never grasp in his hand anyway. The real world was never his side and it will never continue to be his side and he had to painstakingly rmind himself of that fact today.

So Shirou simply scratched his head and idly made his way back to his apartment. He decided to continue his search tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's first lecture stars at 9 AM and waking up that early has never been a thing that a normal average college student would ever want to go through but he made his schedule and he had to fix his schedule to it. There may still be reservations as to whether he could be categorized as one of the normality around here but let's just leave him alone for now.

The sun was starting to set far above the horizon and the entire city slowly started to submerge in light honey dew glow. Shirou blocked the strong strand of light shining down on his eyes with his palm and waited until he got used to the dusk before he put his hand back to his pocket.

Every day was the same. You wake up expecting something exciting to happen at any second and in the end you end up with an empty hand everything feels dull and you slowly become powerless at these repetitive routines you have to endure every day. In the end you start to take comfort in those subtle variations you in the restless cycle of the inescapable.

"Subtle variations huh?"

As if reminded of something, Shirou pulled out the pocket note from his pocket and skimmed through the contact list until he stopped at a page with the names of the three nostalgic names. He mustered al his courage and started calling them one by one, starting from Rin.

The phone smply let out sharp repetitive beeps, implying that the number doesn't exist anymore. Sighing, Shirou continued by calling saber, an international call. Shirou waited anxiously for the phone to connect but the only response he got was the same dreaded beep that repeated itself over and over again.

The cruel realization that the only tie that managed to bind what little connection they had came in the form of abject regret. Long Distances could be justifiable excuse for lack of getting in touch with but that fact could never be an ample enough excuse justifying complete estrangement, more so considering that their relationship was one that was forged through a series of life and death situations, one that no world of normalcy could ever provide him with. The final fragile thread that linked the victors of the grail war disappeared to thin air with that final phone call.

Shirou stopped to wipe away what little moist he had on his eyelids and pushed the arrow key on his cell. The transparent blue bar on his cellphone screen created a subtle overlay on the contact address in the bottom of his screen, which reacted with the little Kanji text to create twinkling purple English text above, _Cherry blossom_, the nickname he added on top of the contact list of one of his Fuyuki friends…

"An acquaintance…"

Sakura Matou.

Shirou hesitantly pushed the call button with his trembling hand. He closed his eyes and grasped all the air he could muster into a gulp. The empty screen on his cell slowly filled up with the number of his kouhai and the white bland screen was replaced with marine blue loading screen. Shirou put it up on his ear, the voice he heard heard over the speaker was…

-WHAM-

...The sound of a body brutally colliding against his back in a spectacular bump…

"SHHHIIIIRRRRROOOOUUUUU KYYYUUUUNNNNN I THOUGHT I'D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!"

The voice oh so familiar to him stuck his ears, he wasn't able to maintain his balance in the midst of the strong force of inertia being forced against him. Forcing his body to drop dead face on the ground. Albeit, in a very very painful fashion.

"Ahhahaha, Kotomi chan. Who are you cosplaying as today? You seem so…hyper today…"

Meet Kotomi, a todai student who somehow came across him during his times in Tokyo through series of complicated events. She was lying on top of Shirou's sandwiched body, her arms wrapped around Shirou's slightly disjointed neck and her legs tightly entwined with Shirou's bruised hips.

Shirou tried his best to cover the blood gushing out of his broken nostrils. His shaky voice was being obscured by the blood flowing inwards and out byways both in and out of his nose. Shirou's pupil was slowly fading away, his willpower being the only thing barely supporting him could've been seen as impeccable proof of his unwavering combatant prowess but that fact mattered little to everyone involved in this ruckus obviously.

"Nyaaa, Kotomi was on the way back from her biannual comiket circle activity! It was a blast Nyaa!"

Kotomi stopped rubbing her nose against Shirou's cheek and raised herself in a feline motion that the author this fanfic was unable to properly describe on this fic (due to lack of motivation on autrhor's part but whatever.) and clutched her hand on her hip as she proudly delivered her speech

Shirou stuck his fingers in his bleeding nose and turned his face around to face the very abomination that had just succeeded in adding hospital bills in the list of liabilities he's about to carve in his balance sheet.

000

Kotomi is a charming woman… at least if you're facing a woman who's constantly dressing herself up ala charming anime girls and if you're willing to accept the often horrendous combination of 3D and 2D with open eyes and arms then you can surely accept Shirou's impression of this peculiar woman.

That's right, Nobody has ever seen her bare face, not even Shirou, who's been acquainted enough to call her by her first name has never seen the face behind the masks that she keeps on wearing. Anyways if her current appearance would help, today she was wearing light pink pajamas that was loosely buttoned along the slim contours of her sleek abdomen, thanks to the uneven numbers of her buttons but most of all thanks to her well expanded chest.

Her fragile looking shoulders were being highlighted by her wobbly sleeves which were dangerously dangling along the diameter of her arms. Her bubbly long sleeves gave an added innocent look to that obnoxious exposition and that managed to immediately carve open Shirou's inborn desires whole in the form of red bloated cheeks.

That didn't last long However, as her long hair which was painted silver white gave an unworldly feel on the on the whole outlook of the woman. Her white Neko headband managed to counteract the horrendous ornament by a margin and if that didn't help, her natural deep sharp topaz eyes put out any traces of detriments of her extravagant embellishments of her hair and Shirou was back to square one, all red with bloated flesh on his face.

"Charming… she's got to be a charming woman"

"Eh? You said something to Tsubasa cat Nyaa?"

So today's costume would be Tsubasa. Not that Shirou had any knowledge of the character beforehand but if she did resemble little of what Kotomi looked like right now she had got to be a charming woman

"Never mind…"  
And that's the conclusion he reached.

It was purely chance happening they managed to cross paths and even then Shirou was probably the only one who had the patience to stay around her long enough to put up with her abnormalities; he was the one who introduced her to his college's Anime circle after all.

The process before that was…well, let's just say that the events leading up to the circle thing could be summed up to this; amalgamation of thriller and love comedy affairs sprinkled with a tinge a bit of violence on top N.O.T T.O.O P.L.E.A.S.A.N.T

Wether their relationship is still a present perfect experience or if it's a drama on the closing end of the season was for him to decide but for now he hoped everything was going well for her. But for now he had a matter he had to solve and if he doesn't finish it now then he'll have to spend the rest of the week gobbling on Miss yukiko's love filled Miso soups. Then again it was Miss yukiko san's love that lead his sophisticated taste for food to this Natto filled bargain craze in the first place so it shouldn't be a very bad sign is it?

"Definitely not…no not a very good sign."

"Nyaaaaaa~~~?"

Kotomi tilted her head sideways and let out that shiny beam of innocence from her eyes. She was walking along the almost (but not quite empty) roadside streets of Yushima with her hands wrapped around Shirou's arms. Her soft compact chest tightly struck against Shirou's arms by that sudden reaction and Shirou's head was struck with a jolting sensation that almost forced him to pop another one in his nostrils. But Shirou's will of fortune left the damage minimal with a single strand of blood Shirou wiped them off with his white T-shirt. The stain stretched itself along its surface to form a proud mark on his long sleeves so he didn't mind; He'd experienced worse after all.

"Staying late at night watching porn is not good for your health Shirou kun~"

"err….Yeah you're right I should stop doing that Kotomi."

"IT'S TSUBASA! NYAAAAAAAA"

Shirou saw several men and women exchanging eerie glances with him as his friend pushed her eyes closer to Shirou's face with an exaggerated frown. The eyes of pedestrians around him were changing from sweet and affable to one that portrayed annoyance, or perhaps jealousy.

That was the point where Shirou knew he had to act quick not to cause anymore unpleasantries around town, lest he be misunderstood as a genuine pervert with cat girl fetish or worse; a set of lovely perverted couples with affinity to cat girl fetishes. So he acted quickly, heading towards the nearest alley beside him and changing the subject to a more mundane one.

"So, how was the circle Koto…I mean Tsubasa chan?"

Kotomi's lips and eyes suddenly loosened to form a sad face. Shirou caught a moment's glimpse of it but before he was able to react Kotomi stretched her lips and smiled. Shirou took back what word he was about to let out at the tip of his lips and swallowed it whole, caught by surprise by her fast recovery. 'I'll ask her later maybe' he thought as she replied to Shirou's enquiry.

"Well, it was fun…I guess, people wanted to pose with me and I took lots of pictures with them, the guys in your college's circle were nice to me too…it's just that…"

"Just that…?"

"I felt like I was being left out for some reason."

Shirou was about to sigh but just before then he replaced it with an awkward yawn. It was somewhat an expected response he got from Kotomi but he couldn't help but curse himself for the apparent lack of sensitivity. Shirou scratched his head and did what he always did in place of such awkward moments. He gently rubbed Kotomi's head with his other free hand and simply stayed silent as they walked across the tight mazy alleyway.

"But it wasn't all that bad! There was this new girl from Hokkaido! And I think we got along great!"

"Oh? That's great news Kotomi, what's her name?"

"Hrmm, I never quite got what her real name was but at least I got her pen name. She's quite adept at drawing hentai rape doujins and she's quite a romantist too!"

Romance and Rape, the only image Shirou was able to make out from this description was the image of a feeble middle aged man incarcerated at a local penitentiary for you-know-what pedophilic/forbidden romances.

If she was a woman that had some knack for such quality rape doujins…well, for some reason Shirou thought he might be able to get along well with her, after all people like him attract the most bizarre personalities around, and a Todai cosplaying maniac fits well in that description.

"And the protagonists in those doujins look, talk and act just like you!"

"…eh…?"  
Bulls eye, they're going to get along just fine.

"So the pen name, you up for it?"  
Shirou gave a perplexed look on Kotomi who was violently shaking his arm up and down. A brief moment of ponder ensued but it wasn't all that long before he gave that nod of approval. Kotomi made a big grin and gave that appreciative wink.

"The pen name's Justice rape, If you have enough time in your agenda call me and I'll take you to Akihabara with her! It'll be a blast."

An alarm suddenly sounded out of nowhere and their conversation was interrupted with Kotomi pulling out her Iphone from the pocket on the pocket of her pajama.

"Ohhh….already?"  
Kotomi gave a dejected face Shirou knew enough of her to see what it implied. 5 O'clock is her daily medication time and that alarm is a reminder of her daily routine. Mostly she'd tag her medication along her but recently, for some reason, she's been leaving them in her house and that probably implied that her time outside for today is over for today.

"I'll be sure to call you when I have a spare time Koto chan. I have my fingers crossed."

"UUU IT'S TSUBASA CAT NYAA"

"Whatever you say Tsubasa"

Kotomi released her grip and spun herself behind and slowly walked away from Shirou. Just before she blurred away from Shirou's sight, she turned her body around and waved her hand towards Shirou and went on.

Shirou waved back and waited until all that remained before his sight was the light of the dusk painting the empty alleyway around him in bright orange light. Her friend was finally going back to her crib and Shirou was left alone searching for the replacement to his Natto supply.

Only god knows what lead him towards this damp, shoddy part of outer Shibuya ward. The answer to the question of whether it's an act of fate or mere coincidence was one that was up for grabs to anyone.

But one thing was for sure.

His life was about to tumble down below the borders of the real and the forbidden

**Arc 1: Bento wars**

**Somewhere around Harajuku bus station**

Shirou stopped at the door of the convenience store which was spewing that eerie air of discomfort and oppression that somewhat gave the impression akin to that of a haunted house. The nearest buildings around it were at least ten meters away from the borders of this 24 hour convenience store's tiled floor and what little parking lot it had was clearly empty without as much as the presence of animals desecrating the immaculate ground. A very unusual, if not terrifying sight, considering the very compact nature of Japanese alleyways.

The only thing Shirou remembers of the process he went through arriving at this place was the image of him wandering aimlessly within the maze of outer Shibuya ward's alleyways. Several minutes passed as he tried in vain to properly draw out the way back to his apartment. Hunger was taking toll of him and the urge to fill his empty stomach was starting to replace his horror of Yukiko san's lovely homemade Miso soups. Coming back to his safe house had become his first priority and that's precisely what he did. He twisted and turned back to where he came from, back to the roadside to his turf.

But in the end of his brief journey, what he came across in his path was not the spectacle of the wide open Shibuya roadways saluting him, but the sight of an open space in the middle of suffocating panorama of Japanese alleyways, and the overwhelming presence of a convenience store of exotic western design. The twenty to twenty square meters wide building was accompanied with parking lots on all four sides neatly paved to the point of genuine perfection, the dead silence encasing the area didn't help with the deathly atmosphere literally hanging around it. All the impression it gave could be summed up to this one word; dangerous.

However the blatant advertisement posters on the window overtook any remaining doubt in his mind and he was left with his mouth watered, moist, acrimonious and what not. His Natto days were about to pave its way to brand new, heightened living standard and he was going to reap the fruit of his long tiring walk on the streets of Shibuya.

(Half priced bentos at the price of 2 to 1!)

The goddess of fortune has just descended before him.

Shirou took a deep breath and took his steps towards the automatic door which was embellished with the same printing press quality posters around here. The door opened before him, timely patience keeping him from breaking through the fragile glass and automatically granting him a one way trip to the local penitentiary.

And so finally the door opened revealing the byzantine interior inside. Countless foods and tools were neatly aligned along the stands and what little spaces they occupied and the scent of fresh, hygienic air of detergents and cheap deodorants replaced the bland smoggy air of the outside, however artificial the smell might've felt like to the general public, to Shirou that smell was simply a new breath of fresh air, both literally and figuratively. He ignored the apparent killing intent that the handful of customers were consciously directing at him with a pinch of salt by the way.

Shirou shifted his eyes towards the frozen food corners at the end of the line of products leading up to the very trophy that he'd been craving for all the moment he'd set foot in this weird convenience store. A stockpile of traditional Japanese bentos tightly adjoined with one another in gracious piles… Well, meager was probably the right word to express the dangerously low number of stacks above but to Shirou, who's been starving for the previous ten hours of the day, any number of food in his sight was as good as any buffet and that's precisely what he made of the feast he's about to taste.

The golden blare of light emanating from the stickers of the bento drew a subtle light along Shirou's forehead down and onto his eyes as Shirou slowly took the steps towards his trophy. It wasn't long before his gaze met with the content of the very Bento he's been dying to reach.

(Deep fried Tempura Tonkatsu Bento with extra blend of Homemade Miso soup, handmade and served fresh from the oven to you. Get over those cheap _Nattos_! Eat Healthy! Eat fresh! Tonkatsu Bento is the thing for you!)

The slogan, obviously. The fact that it carved in the Natto bit with clear italics also meant that the maker of this godsent bento had experienced enough to see that they had Shirou's kind in mind when they made this lovely deep fried pork cutlets as homemade Bentos. The love, the sympathy, the sheer amount of tears that went into making this deadly concoction of delicious Tempura and Tonkatsu was evident in that simple Natto catch phrase.

Shirou wiped the tears gushing out of his eyes; the thin transparent cover reflected the light shining down from the fluorescent lamps dangling above, revealing the lavish contents within the plastic pack.

There were two hand sized pork cutlets, neatly placed beside the rice which was ordained with ample amount of tempura dressing and sprinkles. The brown liquid dormant within the tiny plastic cup tightly lid within the plastic cover had no traces of any alien ingredients, save for a few block of Tofu floating above the surface of the homemade Miso soup.

The juicy, crispy outlay of the meat inside the pack was decorated with a handful of vegetables, the unnatural blend of Worchester sauce neatly spread above them further emphasized the quality of the craftsmanship that went into the design. It was quite simply a work of art, a healthy nutritional bento, aesthetically unmatched to the point that every other frozen foods around the vicinity seemed something less than complete rubbish compared to this.

Shirou thanked the maker for presenting him with this present. A moment of salutation went by and Shirou pushed his hand closer to the very prize he's after. Sadly though, a soft, chilly sensation converged on his palm just before his hand managed to reach above it. Shirou turned his head right to see the woman preying on his Tempura Tonkatsu Bento.

There was the sight of a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She was wearing a white tank top above her thin red ruffle skirt. The voluptuous contours of her boobs were stretching her tank top to the point that Even Shirou could see the crevices through the thick white tank top. Her hips were bent to the front, allowing her err….

Boobs to dangerously dangle down below her chest, making the thick texture of her tank top seem anything less than a mere cotton sheet. Her long purple hair was balanced with a single ribbon which she used to form a pony tail which oddly suited her plumy eyes. She was wearing a thick round glasses and white cough mask with cherry blossom painting on it. Shirou was briefly taken by surprise by that pleasant view but he immediately took his mind back to his deed.

"I'm sorry, but this Bento is taken."

*Gulp*

Shirou was left baffled by her reaction to him; moreover her focus was not on the treasure chest he held in his hands but to his own eyes. Leaving a prey wandering off in the midst of a hot pursuit is never a wise course of action undertake more so if your target is there just in front of you. Considering the impression he got upon seeing her, Shirou just knew she had to be one of the college students around here (poverty stricken most likely). And it's not easy seeing a college student who's willing to give up on anything especially in regards to matters having to do with foods.

"err…is there something you want to say?"

"Oh…Uh…. No…nothing…umm, eheheheheh nothing it's just that….that…heh, please don't mind me."

The girl's face flushed red and her hands started scouring through the remaining bentos. It's just that, her hand was grabbing onto nothing in particular. Shirou sighed and scratched his head was she another one of those abnormal personalities he came across so often one of these days? Well, even if that's so that wouldn't have stopped him from giving her a helping hand so he tucked his bento below his left arm and pushed his body inside the freezer to grab onto one of the delicacies this freezer offered.

"Don't, stop!"

"Stop! You're desecrating the sacred battle ground!"

"Imbeciles, leave now!"

A sudden surge of whispers came striking Shirou's ears, he wasn't able to clearly make out the voices but the fact that it was a blatant warning got through him and he felt shivers running down his spine.

"Do not touch the Bentos!"

"leave now! The bentos are not yours to eat see those Natto corners? They're good for you."

"Oh Shut your traps! Stop doing the same god damn thing at him when I'm using suggestions on them! The message is not making any sense"

Shirou hesitated for a moment at the ghastly voices sounding inside and thought about heading over to the Natto cans just as the voice commanded but the sight of the poor woman frantically waving her hands on the empty section of the freezer caused him to muster all his courage into grabbing another one from the freezer.

Next thing he saw was perhaps not uncalled for but at least, he played the hero part.

"We warned you human!"

In a simultaneous burst, the shadows around him peeled off, revealing tens of cosplaying maniacs popping out of nowhere quickly filling the interior of this immaculate convenience store in surge of human bodies. Shirou and the woman beside him had no choice but to stand agape as the quiet convenience store quickly changed into massive battle field. Invisible Strings, gunshots laser beams and plenty of swords were being flung around inside and total chaos took control over everything else.

The surge of bodies fighting each other slowly drew in towards Shirou's position. Three different types of cosplayers throwing guns knives lasers and whatnots at each other, in a battle of strength… no it was too dirty to be called a battle, it was merely a brawl between hungry beasts. There was no sign of grace or anything that resembled coordination. They were hungry demons and if that's not enough they feed off of limited edition half priced bentos. The authenticity of Shirou's impression is not very important at this point though as Shirou and the woman behind him were finally caught in the midst of the storm.

The first thing Shiou saw in this cloud of dust was the sight of a nun lifting him off of his feet, brutally hitting him with a series of inhumane punches that anything less than a hammer could never match up. In the end of that one sided brawl Shirou found himself being flung into another group of people dressed in extravagant Victorian dresses. One of them, a blue unabashed looking blond clad in blue Victorian dress caught him with both her arms and immediately landed a series of wrestling moves on him, DDT choke slam, cobra twist you name it.

With a final twist Shirou once again found his body graciously flying on top of the dusty battle ground that is the convenience store. Endorphins were gushing in his body in a vain attempt to block the pain and it did wonders with it. Perhaps if that drug didn't kick in the string that lead him down to this white skirted young woman would've been the last thing he saw before his death. The glimpse of the string wielding woman's purple uniform passed before his sight as his body lifted off ground and within moments her strings brusquely tossed him away from the heat of battle. The last thing he saw before he landed on the ground was the sight of the white skirted woman's bulky barrettes and the glamorous plumy long hair that went along with it.

Shirou's body broke through the window behind and his scarred body managed to land a square hit in the middle of the parking lot outside. He took several rolls along the asphalt ground and hit a telephone pole with his back on the wall; he swore he heard several cracks on his back, blood pumping out of his mouth and noses taking away every bit of stamina that remained within him. Just before he passed out he saw the body of that purple pony tailed girl graciously floating above the air. Her ribbon, glasses and the cough mask loosened and the wind removed them off from the woman's face, revealing a face that was oh so very familiar to him.

"oh my god"

000  
You have just received a voice mail.  
000

A cherry blossom reunion.

End chapter 1: Cherry blossom reunion.


	2. Supply and demand

**[FF]Tokyo X **

**Interruption/cat food is fine too**

The streets of Shibuya are touted as one of the busiest streets in Tokyo. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people gather at this downtown section of Tokyo for reasons having to do with work, entertainment, shopping, tourism and stuff. It is a place where all sorts of commerce centers on, a place where Tokyo shines out it's glamour in its most marvelous light.

There's an ancient saying however, the brighter the light the darker the shadow gets and the streets of Shibuya (as you might have correctly guessed) has never been an exception from that universal trope.

Sure, even this place works under the principles of supply and demand thus even in the most commercially flourishing streets like Shibuya, ugly competition opens up with every single money you spend. Down from your cheap daily dosage of Nattos to your decision to purchase expensive high tech goods like Personal computers or your decision to buy your first ever four wheeled drive.

The more enjoyment people churn out of the wide array of goods available in the market of Shibuya, the uglier the competition develops. And that perfectly sums up the light and dark of capitalism. But what if there's more to the world than meets the eye? What if the thing that occupies the deepest layers of the dark shadows is a completely new, hidden underground world? Would the principles of supply and demand still work out its magic?

"Excuse me, sir….sir? your Nattos."

"Oh uh… I'm sorry how much would that be?"

"That would be one thousand yen."

"One thousand yen! For three? But that store over there sold those at a quarter of the price you're offering! Surely it's got to be cheaper than that."

"In case you didn't notice, they sell expired Nattos. And apparently they've just gone out of business for breaking the law. Would you rather spend the week suffering with Diarrhea than having nice healthy unexpired Nattos to last the day?"

The mysterious man clad in dark T-shirt sighed to the brusque comment of the part timer of the convenience store. The clock was pointing at five in the afternoon which meant he was about to be late for his daily work time routine and he didn't find this quarrel to be particularly enjoyable. He fixed his glasses in place and scratched his head, trying to find a way out of his current predicament yet it seemed help was nowhere in sight. Who would blame him though? After all he was sorely low on money, and to make it worse he was stuck in the middle of downtown Tokyo with little to almost no supply in his refrigerator to last him throughout the mission. Is that a very bad sign? Yes, yes, indeed it is.

After all, who would have thought that he'd be stuck in the middle of the downtown streets of Tokyo trying to snatch an insignificant half priced Bento while trying to sneak his way into the midst of a bloody conflict? The client's (three in all) deadline was still a few months away and the sheer extent of the deadline alone should've been an ample indication to the predicament he was about to face, but no, thanks to his alter ego's arrogance he was again forced to spend his precious time into solving this impossible mission, Particularly when he was in the midst of a runaway from his deranged Ex-girlfriend.

"I'll pass on it…"

"Suit yourself., and… the cat food Are you taking those?"

The dark clothed man held his sight to the floor to see a black cat with ribbons on her neck. She was rubbing her cheeks around his leg, brushing her fur off with his dark cotton pants. A moment of contemplation went by but it wasn't long before he made the decision. He lifted the black cat off her feet and embraced her in her arm before gently stroking her back. The cat let out a low pitched purr as she sank deeper into sleep under his embrace.

"I'll take it"

"That'll be 1000yen"

000

"Uhm… hello? Is this the Tohno residence?"

"Hello? Hello! Nii Sama! Nii sama! Is that you!..."

The public telephone booth let out sharp repetitive beeps as the mysterious dark suited man immediately threw the receiver back to the booth. He felt cold sweat running down his forehead and into his eyes which impelled him to rub his while screaming like a little girl. He regained his serenity soon however and begun dialing the same number again. It was unusual for her little sister to be taking the phone at this time of day and surely he wasn't going to hear the same voice on the phone twice. Otherwise he'd be dead on his feet by next Tuesday burned to charcoal on his dead bed, oh but then there was this deranged Ex-girlfriend he had to flee from before that anyway which made all his angst seemingly useless he proceeded to let that fear take control over him nonetheless.

"Hello, this is Hisui from Tohno residence speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hisui? Is…is that you? Oh thank god."

"Shiki sama? Where have you been all those days taking Len away with you! We were so worried!"

"I'm sorry Hisui, really want to talk but right now I'm in a bit of a pinch"

"With what?"

"My sister."

Shiki's heartbeat started to gain speed as he heard the small voice in the back ground starting to gain volume. At first it started like an insignificantly low growl but the more Hisui hesitated the voice began to gain power and the insignificant background noise was beginning to be replaced with the big "Hisui! Kohaku! Did you pick up that phone! Is that Nii sama! " from his sister and as his judgment would have it he had less than ten second left to avoid his impending death sentence so he made things quick.

"Send ten thousand yen in my bank account asap Hisui! Just ten thousand yen please please, don't tell this to Akiha okay! I beg you!"

"B..but… eh? A…Akiha sama!"

"Night!"

Shiki hung up the phone and drop dead to the ground, not finding it in himself to keep standing after all that thrilling encounter with her sister.

A tiny prop on his sides pulled him back to this world and Shiki was prompted to face the little girl standing beside him with a rather anxious looking face, she was holding the box of catfood they just bought in her arms. To that Shiki wiped the small gush of tears building in his eyes and pulled the hand of the long blue haired familiar into his laps to give her a warm hug.

"I'm okay Len…I'm okay cat foods are fine too. I'll get by as long as I'm with you" 

He rubbed his fingers along the frills of Len's dark ruffle dress as he snuggled Len in his arms and proceeded to spot his passionate eyes towards his familiar's. A moment of silent went by between them, a moment that was as quiet as the depths of the night and yet as passionate as the vigor of the lunar light.

There was no vocal conversation going on between them yet a moment's glimpse of one another was enough to see exactly what they wanted. Shiki drew his hands closer to Len's petite figure as his ears were met with Len's gasping breath which was gaining strength as their bodies drew closer towards each other, and…

Traced the line over the cover of the cat food which was still under the soft petite embrace of Len with his heirloom dagger

"I guess having one of these once in a while won't hurt Right?"

"…"

To that Len simply crossed her arms against her chest and let out a small frown.

Shiki grabbed a fistful of the feline delicacy in his hand and put them in his mouth piece by piece. The oceanic tastes abound in every little bunch he poured inside his mouth; reminding himself of the times he had to spend the day being kicked out of the house by his sister with nothing but Len's cat food and the fresh midnight air to stuff him with.

Len was sitting beside Shiki on the bench around the dangerous looking convenience store, shaking her legs up and down, her face flushing red with satisfaction as she munched on the cat food which tasted much like one of those dried octopuses she'd often snatch away from the marketplace around her master's mansion.

Though this wasn't the most expensive cat food she'd ever tasted in her life she still liked the humble texture and the taste of this cheap cat food she was stuffing herself with. In the human world, the more expensive a food gets the more it tends to lose out on flavor and the world of cat food was never an exception to that equation. The fact that he'd been gaining weight after all that got through her mind for a moment though but in the end she just decided to let her feline instincts take over her gracious eating habit.

000

The skies around were starting to turn dim as they went on with their daily dinner routine and the lamps around them were turning on one by one. The dark gray skies overlapped with the fleeting orange of the dusk as the sun was starting to recede from their view. Shiki took a look in his wristwatch which was pointing at around seven in the afternoon and soon it'll be his time to step into the brawl.

The eerie atmosphere kept gaining strength with every passing moment, the fragile balance separating silence and chaos was starting to reach its limits and the final delicate thread keeping the tense equilibrium was broken with the first sign of gunshot resounding inside the cubical conventional store.

Shiki held his breath and handed his glasses over to Len as he lowered his stances to ground level in a serpentine posture he attached his legs and arms to the ground and lifted his reversed knife with his right hand. He fixed his gaze beyond the clusters of lines and dots dancing along in one messy jumble. The ensuing chaos only kept on growing and growing until the lines and dots entwined together to form a near impregnable barricade.

But Shiki didn't yield; the mission has taken him far too long and he has worried his family long enough. His life is his to manage and it is here that he had decided that the next episode of his adventure will take place and indeed it has taken him to this life or dead situation.

There is always a time when a man must stand up to fight against the cog of wheel bounding him to the rules of the world. But nay, kick reason to the curve and muster all the courage he can get in order to prove that he's worth something to those around him (and maybe escape his sister's wrath but whatever) and that he's man enough to pierce through the impossibilities with hopeless abandon.

That's what he decided upon that's what he decided he'll be in the face of such impossible odds and he will succeed, deep down he knew he'll succeed, he just knew it for, the laws abiding by reason and logic are useless before the hot-bloodedness of a man and a hot-blooded man he shall be.

A surge of boiling fury built up within him, a power so incredible he never knew existed in his heart, a will so strong that it literally sent the countless blood vessels in popping up in his eyes in one simultaneous burst. His eyes reddened and he felt great.

His familiar gave his master a worrying look as the crimson liquid drew a subtle line along his master's cheek as it left itself fall under the mercy of gravity. His master gave one last look to his familiar (a horrifying one at the least) and turned his eyes to the stagnant dot right in the middle of the cluster of dots. The bento was his to take and he had to believe in himself because there was all there was to it.

"I'll be back"

And he lunged his body into the convention store at the speed that he subtly guessed, might've been somewhat close to that of the speed of sound. But of course the law of physics is never the one to take your naivety with open arms. Just before he broke to the glasses of the convenience store he screamed at the realization of this one importable fact he forgot to take notice of. Thanks to his arrogance but most of all thanks to his hot blooded fury.

"God Dammit I can't see shit!"

000

And so another day at his office was over and he once again found himself brutally wounded all over and his clothes in tatters. he guessed he got A few inhumane punches on his nose coupled with well timed supplex moves followed by an ether light swing to the walls of the store coming against him, and he swore he repeated that process at least ten times over twice of what he'd normally take.

Today's fight was especially brutal counting the number of pains he had to endure and even then none of the three groups managed to get one at the bento. This was hell at its most marvelous form, and his bloodshot eyes had done more than just letting things rape him over and over again.

"Supply and demand my ass."

So uh, so coming back to our previous inquiry which had no relevance whatsoever to our mysterious character's current predicament, can supply and demand work out its magic below the shadows? Of course it can and it tends to be a lot more blatant and barbaric than the things we see around us, especially when lack of supply counts in the fray.

"So, sneak in failed, wait until they get exhausted failed, run over the store with a random vehicle failed, Kick reasons to the curb, failed….hah…We'll need a more sophisticated plan to get over this one."

Len, who again was sitting on the same bench with his master, applied another plaster at Shiki's bruised Jaws and Cheeks. It wasn't the first time she'd gone over this routine though and at the least she took comfort in the fact that her master managed to survive in the midst of that ruckus. A few minutes later she was done and they were once again left to spy over the convenience store, finding nothing better to occupy them with.

A brief moment of ponder ensued before Shiki turned his eyes on the two bodies lying dormant alongside one another beside the telephone pole. A sudden swoosh of an Idea lit his head and he limply carried his body to the bodies lying beneath him. He traced his palm on the man's pockets and pulled out a wallet in his jeans to see a single one thousand yen note inside.

"I'm sorry, but I'll definitely pay you back I promise."

He put a single note inside the young wallet and pushed the one thousand yen note inside his pocket. He made sure to check their wallet to find their address and proceeded to lift them up behind his back. He decided to tag along the purple haired girl on his back too, seeing that their homes were not that far away from each other.

"Len, can you bring that cat food along while I take them back to their houses?"

His familiar gave a blank nod and brought the cat food along with her.

Interruption end.

000

You have two unanswered voice mails

000


End file.
